Filter.



W. G. HALL.

FILTER.

APPLICATION FILED 11.11116, 1912.

1.070,249. Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

MGi/65565;

COLUMBIA pLANouR/PH C04. WASHINGTON. D. c.

W. G. HALL.

FILTER.

APPLICATION EILED MAY 16, 1912.

1,070,249. Patented Aug. 12,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0.. WASHINGTON, D, c.

W. G. HALL.

FILTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16. 1912.

1,070,249, Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W/zfs E l :1w/170% coumnm PLANOGRAPM co.. WASHINGTON. n.c.

WILLIAM GARVIE HALL, OF HONOLU'L'U, TERRITORY 0F HAWAII.

FILTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Application filed May 16, 1912. Serial No. 697,706.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. HALL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Honolulu, in the county of Honolulu and Territory of Hawaii, have invented new and useful Improvements in Filters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in filters for sugar juices and similar solutions, of that general type wherein layers of ltering material are arranged between perforated lter plates; and the invention proposes a lter in which etHcient provision is made for cleaning the layers of ltering material without removing them from the casing, and for maintaining a compressive pressure on the layers during use, so as to compensate for any shrinkage thereof and preventuseless short circuiting of the juices.

The objects of the invention are to simplify the construction and promote the eiiiciency of lters of the general nature indicated.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the `accompanying drawings, wherein:

F igurey 1 is a vertical central sectional view of the improved filter; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing an alternative detail of construction; Fig. iis a vertical central sectional view showing a modied or alternative construction; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing one of the lter plates that may be employed in the construction shown in Fig. 4.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout thek several views.

The operating parts are arranged within a casing 1, which is closed at its lower end by a bottom plate 2, preferably dished, and at its upper end by a head 3, preferably cone-shaped. The head is removably secured as by bolt connections 4 to an attachment flange 5, provided at the upper end of the casing 1.

The filtering material is arranged in layers, as 6, and may be of any'desired character, e. g., eXcelsior, cane ber, wood chips, or the like. The layers 6 are confined between perforated horizontally disposed filter plates 7 of which any desired number may be employed. The lower plate is supported with relation to a number of concentric rings 8, which are at once connected and held 1n proper relation by bolt and sleeve devices 9. The rings 8 rest upon the dished bottom plate 2, the inner ring, which has circulation openings 10 at its lower edge being preferably permanently secured to said bottom plate and the other rings having depending legs 11 to engage said bottom plate. The upper plate 7 is connected to a spider frame 12 which forms an element of a means for lowering or raising said upper plate and thereby subjecting the layers 6 to pressure or relieving them of pressure, as the case may be. The frame 12 is provided at the lower end of a rod 13 which works through a stuffing box 14 at the axial center of the head 3. According to Fig. 1, the upper port-ion of the rod 13 is threaded for cooperation with a nut 15, through which it passes. The nut 15 is journaled in a bearing 16 and may be conveniently rotated, by bevel gearing which includes a crown wheel 17 fitted upon the projecting end of said nut, and rotated by manually turned pinions 18; In Fig. 3 a fluid driven piston 19 and a cylinder 20 are shown as an alternative means for effecting movements of the rod 13. In this case the piston 19 is fitted on the upper end of said rod and the cylinder 20, in which said piston works, is imposed o-n the head 3 and is provided with upper and lower connections 21 and 22 controlled by a common valve 23 and adapted to be put into relation to an exhaust passage 24 and to an inlet passage 25 for the motive Huid, which may be either air, steam, or water. When the passage 21 serves asl the inlet connection, the passage 22 serves as the outlet connection, and vice versa. Thus, the piston 18 and the rod 13 may be moved either upwardly or downwardly, according as to whether the motive fluid is admitted into the lower or the upper end of the cylinder 19.

In filtering, the materialvof the layers 6 should be tightly packed or compressed in order to secure the best results and for this purpose the rod 13 is fed downwardly, moving the upper plate 7 therewith and through the agency of said upper plate putting a pressure on all of the layers 6. In cleaning the iilter, the material ot the layers 6 should be relatively loose and in eitecting this condition, the invention contemplates not merely taking the pressure trom said layers, but positively increasing the separation of the plates 7 by suitable and determined increments.

Having the operations mentioned in the preceding paragraph in view, the plates 7 are .fitted upon vertical posts 2G which normally rest upon the bottom plate 3 and of which any desired number may be employed. The posts 2G diminish in diameter toward their upper ends and pass loosely through openings in the plates 7, carrying at their upper extremities nuts 27. As shown, said posts are of stepped construction so as to provide a series of shoulders upon which washers 28, loosely surrounding` the posts, may rest. ln loosening the material of the layers G the rod 13 is ted upwardly, carrying with it the uppermost plate 7, which moves away from the next adjacent plate and very shortly strikes against the nuts 27 and commences to raise the posts 26. Thereupon, the second plate 7 is raised, moving away from the plate next below until the latter is engaged by the adjacent washers 28 and is in turn raised; and so on throughout the series of plates. The plates are thus positively moved away from one another by determined increments, whereby the water used during the cleaning operation may circulate freely and ei'fectively through the layers ot' the liltering material.

A pipe 29 is connected to the casing near its upper end and a pipe 30 is connected. to the casing at its lower end, preferably coaxially oit the central ring 8. The pipe 29 is provided with a valve controlled branch 31, by which the filtered solution is passed and with a valve controlled branch 32 by which water is admitted for cleaning purposes. The pipe 30 is provided with a valve controlled solution inlet branch 33 and with a valve controlled water outlet branch 34. The branch 32 is provided also with a check valve 35.

1n use, the water valves being closed, the solution to be filtered passes into the lower portion of the casing 1 under such pressure as may be desired and flows upwardly through the successive layers of iiltering material G, passing from the casing through the branch 31. During this period, the layers G are subjected to strong pressure so that their material is irmly packed in order that it may the more readily take up impurities carried over with the solution. Ultimately, in order to secure good results, it becomes necessary to clean the filtering layers and at such time the solution valves are closed and the water inlet valve in the branch 3Q is opened. As the water passes into the casing the rod 13 is fed upwardly. This upward movement ot the rod not only increases the separation of the plates and thereby ett'ectively loesens the interposed material G, but it also causes, in etlect, the upward movement of the plates as a series of successively increasing number; and consequently, the water which is prevented from back flow by the valve is, in effect, forced in a downward or counter direction through the already loosened material, taking with it the impurities which have been absorbed. Thereupon, the valve of the branch 34 having been opened', the water passes from the casing. The flow of water is maintained as long as may be necessary to secure results and during such flow, the layers 6 may be alternately compressed and loosened to fa cilitate the cleaning action.

The construction shown in Fig. 4 proceeds on the same principles as the construction already described, but is modified in respect to certain details of construction. In this construction, the parts which correspond to the construction shown in Fig. 1 are designated by the same numerals, but are distinguished by the exponent a. Thus, the Filter shown in Fig. 4t comprises the casing 1a having the lower head 2 and the upper head Cl, and the iilter plate 7 a. The arrangement is, however, in effect, inverted, and the rod 1Sa by which the relation of the iilter plates is controlled, passes axially through the head 2a and is connected to a device which is suspended beneath the head 2a and which correspo-nds to the means for raising and lowern ing the plates in the preceding examples. As shown, this device comprises a cylinder 203, connected coaxially to the head 2a and into which the rod 13fL projects, and a piston 19a working within this cylinder and mounted upon the rod 131. The latter has a bearing extension 36 which works in a cup-like extension 37 of the cylinder 20a. The piston 19a is operated, hydraulically :tor instance, and the valve arrangement for controlling the admission and egress ot the water may be the same as shown in Fig. 3. ln this alternative construct-ion the posts QG are not employed,but in lieu thereof the rollowing arrangement is adopted. The rod 13a passes through a sleeve 39 composed of superimposed sections 39a, 89", and 39, and through a spacing sleeve 40 interposed between the piston 19 and a washer 11, upon which the sleeve section 390 rests. The several sleeve sections are annularly shouldered as at ft2, and the upper tiltering plate 7L rests on the shoulder L12 of the upper sleeve sec tion, being positively held in this relation by connection with the upper end oi the rod 13i through the agency of a trame 13 which carries or bears against said upper filter plate and a nut 44 on the upper end of the rod 13a and which bears against the frame 43. Between the central portion of the upper plate 7a and the central portion of the frame 43, a distance sleeve 45 is interposed, which effectually reinforces the plate 7a at this point, preventing any buckling or distortion thereof by the pressure of the closely packed and compressed filtering material. The shoulders 42 are spaced from the plates by successive increments throughout the downward progression of the series and, as the rod 132L moves upwardly, successively engage the plates throughout the downward progression thereof. The upper plate 7 a however, is always engaged by the shoulder 42 of the upper sleeve section 39a, while the lower plate 7 a which normally rests on supporting ribs 51 or equivalent devices is engaged by the washer 41, said washer thus serving the purpose of a shoulder 42 and being thus, in effect, a flat sleeve section.

The sleeve 40 works through a stuffing box` 46, in which a lubricating ring 47 or equivalent device may be arranged.

In filtering, the plates are caused to maintain the filtering material in a packed and compressed condition by the downward pressure of the motive fluid upon the piston 19a. In washing the filter, the rod 13a is raised to provide for the positive spacing of the plates, the action being similar to that in the example described. The juice to be filtered is admitted at the lower connection 48 and is drawn off at the upper oonnection 49. The connections 48 and 49 are in suitable relation to water Supply connections as in the embodiment rst described. The filter plates 7a except the lowest one may be suitably braced, for example, by angle iron straps 50 attached to their upper and lower faces, those on the one face being disposed at a right angle to those on the other face. The lowest plate 7a may be braced by an angle iron ring 50 arranged on its upper face.

Concerning the construction shown in Fig. 4, it may be noted that the object of providing the operating devices below the head 21 is to enable their arrangement below the floor line, thus making an economical disposition of space and to reduce the weight which is imposed upon the casing 2, thus enabling a relatively light upper head 3a to be employed and which may be readily removed whenever the necessity arises.

Having fully described my invention, I claim:

1. In a filter, a casing, a series of structurally independent filter plates arranged therein and conforming to the internal diameter thereof, filtering material disposed between the plates, the plates normally maintaining the filtering material under compression for the purpose of the filtering operation, a rod movable upwardly or down-v wardly, and connected to one of the plates, and means of connection between the rod and the plates whereby they are positively and progressively raised in accordance with an upward movement of the rod to enable a relative expansion of the interposed filtering material and thereby to provide for the ready cleaning thereof.

2. In a filter, a casing, a series of structurally independent filter plates disposed in the casing and conforming to the interna-l diameter thereof, filtering material disposed between the plates, the plates normally maintaining the filtering material under compression for the purpose of the filtering operation, means for positively and progressively raising the plates to enable a relative expansion of the interposed filtering material and thereby to provide for the ready cleaning thereof, a water inlet connection disposed beyond the series of plates at one end thereof, and a water outlet connection disposed beyond the series of plates at the other end thereof, the shouldered elements being arranged below corresponding plates and having their spacing from said plates progressively increased toward the lower end of the filter.

3. In a filter, a casing, a series of structurally independent filter plates arranged therein, a rod movable upwardly or downwardly and connected to the upper filter plate, means arranged below the casing for raising and lowering the rod, and means arranged at intervals on the rod for engaging the remaining filter plates and moving them with the rod when the rod is raised.

4. In a filter, a casing, a series of structurally independent filter plates arranged therein, a rod movable upwardly or downwardly and connected to the upper filter plate, means for raising and lowering the rod, and means arranged at intervals on the rod for engaging the remaining filter plates and moving them with the rod when the rod is raised, the last-named means comprising a plurality of sleeve sections, each having a filter plate engaging shoulder.

5. In a filter, a casing, a series of structurally independent filter plates arranged therein and conforming-'to the internal diameter thereof, filtering material disposed between the plates, the plates normally maintaining the filtering material under compression for the purpose of the filtering operation, a rod movable upwardly or downwardly and connected to one of the plates, a series of shouldered elements movable with the rod and each arranged under a corresponding plate for engagement therewith to raise the same when the rod is raised, the spacing between the shouldered elements and the adjacent plates progressively increasing toward the lower end of the filter, a solution inlet disposed beyond the series of plates at In` testimony whereof I have hereunto s et one end thereof, :L solution outlet disposed my hand in presence of two subscribing W1tbeyond the series of plates at the other end messes.

thereof, :t Water inlet disposed beyond the VILLIAM Gf/XRVIE HALL. series of plates at one end thereof, and a Witnesses:

Water outlet disposed beyond the series of 0. K. FRANCA,

plates at the other end thereof. F. W. lVhmNNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents nach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

